Dark Fire chapter 3
The Great Demon King
The afternoon was spent tediously reading the script from the beginning. Everyone sat together, reading and brainstorming ideas, making detailed and logical modifications to the script.
He Jingping requested everyone to read with emotions and feelings. Ling Zhuo had never participated in such a script reading session before and felt quite uncomfortable, stumbling through his lines.
When it came to the part where the female lead talked about love, the lines were somewhat cheesy. Ling Zhuo stumbled again, stopping awkwardly, sweat forming on his forehead from embarrassment.
Someone beside him lightly chuckled, “Xiao Ling, are you feeling embarrassed to say these lines?”
Others joined in the laughter, and Yu Fei joked, “The first time shooting is like this. When I did my first drama, during the intimate scenes, it took over ten takes, and I almost got fired.”
Ling Zhuo apologized with a red face, “Sorry, I’ll continue.”
Lu Chixie casually mentioned to the screenwriter, “These lines here, maybe they should be changed. At this point, the relationship between Lin Lanyu and Zhuge You is still in the ambiguous stage of childhood friends, and they haven’t broken the ice. These lines are a bit too cheesy.”
Yu Fei: “I agree, these lines are indeed a bit over the top.”
Both the male and female leads said they wanted to make changes, so changes were made. The screenwriter made some modifications to the script on the spot, altering some explicit lines to be more subtle and implicit. With a sigh of relief, Ling Zhuo managed to smoothly continue reading.
An hour later, they took a ten-minute break.
Ling Zhuo took a sip of water. When he looked up, he met the gaze of Lu Chixie, who was staring at him. Lu Chixie twirled his pen leisurely and asked him in a deliberate manner, “Ling, have you ever been in love?”
Ling Zhuo was taken aback.
Lu Chixie’s voice was not loud, and the people around them had left, so no one else heard.
Ling Zhuo furrowed his brow slightly, while Lu Chixie continued to stare at him, a playful smile on his face as he waited for an answer.
Ling Zhuo didn’t feel like entertaining this person.
He had only just met Lu Chixie, his colleague, and he was already asking about his personal life. Ling Zhuo didn’t want to answer.
Lu Chixie raised an eyebrow, and Ling Zhuo averted his eyes.
At five o’clock, the script reading session for the day ended, and Ling Zhuo went straight back to the hotel.
The hotel for the crew was near the set. The nanny car stopped at the entrance of the hotel lobby, and as soon as Ling Zhuo got out of the car, he was surrounded by fans who had been waiting there.
He didn’t accept the gifts handed to him by the fans, only took the letters and held them in his hand. Protected by bodyguards and Yang Ming, he made his way into the hotel.
In the elevator lobby, he ran into Lu Chixie, who was also waiting for the elevator to go upstairs. Ling Zhuo greeted him and then stood still.
Lu Chixie wore sunglasses. Seeing Ling Zhuo’s tired figure reflected in the elevator doors, his gaze fell on the stack of envelopes in Ling Zhuo’s hand. “So many letters, are you really planning to open and read them one by one?”
Ling Zhuo: “Mm-hmm.”
Lu Chixie clicked his tongue. “It’s great to be your fan.”
Ling Zhuo: “It’s also great to be a fan of you, Teacher Lu.”
He spoke sincerely. Although being a fan of Lu Chixie required enduring his occasional eccentricities, simply being a fan of his looks or career should be quite fulfilling.
Lu Chixie chuckled softly, and the elevator doors opened in front of them.
As they entered, Lu Chixie casually asked, “Which floor are you on?”
Ling Zhuo: “Fifteenth floor.”
Lu Chixie: “What a coincidence, me too.”
He pressed the button for the fifteenth floor.
Ling Zhuo’s room was 1508, while Lu Chixie’s was 1511, just diagonally across.
Before entering his room, Lu Chixie called out to Ling Zhuo again, “Ling, there’s a bar downstairs. Want to go for a drink tonight?”
Ling Zhuo: “I’ll pass. I’m a bit tired and want to sleep early.”
After saying this, he nodded and went into his room, with Yang Ming following and closing the door behind him. Lu Chixie watched as the door closed in front of him, his lips curling slightly.
Upon entering his room, Ling Zhuo looked around. His room was a large suite, with a living room and dining area outside, and the bedroom inside. Yang Ming had already helped him unpack and changed the bedding that morning.
Ling Zhuo was satisfied, so he took a few photos with his phone and sent them to the group chat.
The youngest in the group, Qi Liangli, was the first to reply, “Wow, the crew is really generous Zhuo ge, giving you such a big suite.”
Ling Zhuo: “It’s okay, just average.”
Qi Liangli: “Just average? Even this is just average?”
Deng Lanluo: “Tsk, so modest.”
Zhang Xun: “How’s the food in your crew?”
Ling Zhuo also sent photos of the boxed lunch he had for lunch: “So-so.”
Zhang Xun: “Looks decent to me.”
These people were all Ling Zhuo’s teammates. Deng Lanluo and Ling Zhuo were both vocalists, Zhang Xun was a rapper, Qi Liangli was the dance captain, and Zhong Yiran was also a dance captain and the team leader. Zhong Yiran and Deng Lanluo were a year older than Ling Zhuo, Zhang Xun was slightly younger, and Qi Liangli was the youngest, just twenty years old.
After chatting for a while in the group, Ling Zhuo noticed that Zhong Yiran had not replied. He opened their private chat window: “Aren’t you here?”
Five minutes later, Zhong Yiran replied, “Just took a shower. Have you had dinner?”
Ling Zhuo: “Yang Ming ordered room service. We’re waiting for it to be delivered.”
Zhong Yiran called, and Ling Zhuo answered. Zhong Yiran’s voice came through the phone, “Is your throat feeling better?”
“Much better.” Ling Zhuo felt his mind gradually relaxing as he listened to the other’s concerned tone.
Actually, his throat still hurt. He had been reading the script all afternoon, and besides the leads, he had the most lines and scenes. If it weren’t for the box of throat lozenges Lu Chixie had given him, he probably wouldn’t be able to speak now.
Zhong Yiran asked, “Really better? Then why does your voice still sound hoarse?”
Ling Zhuo chuckled softly, realizing that he couldn’t hide anything from Zhong Yiran.
Zhong Yiran: “What’s so funny?”
Ling Zhuo: “Nothing.”
They chatted for more than ten minutes. When the doorbell rang, Ling Zhuo thought it was dinner being delivered, so he said goodbye to Zhong Yiran and hung up.
Yang Ming went to open the door, but it was Lu Chixie’s assistant outside.
“Lu ge asked if Teacher Ling wants to have dinner in his room? He specially ordered a few extra dishes.”
Yang Ming looked back at Ling Zhuo, who said, “No, thank you. We’ve already ordered room service, and it will be here soon.”
After sending Lu Chixie’s assistant away, Ling Zhuo asked Yang Ming to close the door. Yang Ming walked back and teased him, “Why do I feel like this Mr. Lu is particularly enthusiastic about you, ge?”
Ling Zhuo shook his head, sitting on the sofa while waiting for the meal, continuing to play with his phone.
Qi Liangli mentioned him again in the group chat: “Damn, the Lu young master followed Zhuo Ge’s Weibo and even liked your official announcement makeup photo today!”
Ling Zhuo was slightly surprised. He casually opened Weibo and, after some thought, typed “Lu Chixie” into the search bar.
Lu Chixie’s Weibo profile picture was the same as his WeChat profile picture, a shadow taken by a camera under a streetlight at night. His Weibo content was minimal, mostly reposts with no expressions, either automatically generated reposts or simple one or two-word captions. This morning, when the official Weibo account of “Burning Love” posted his own official announcement, he simply reposted it without any additional comments or likes.
However, among his latest likes was Ling Zhuo’s official announcement post.
Ling Zhuo was a bit speechless, hesitating whether to follow Lu Chixie back. Normally, mutual following on Weibo among colleagues in a drama crew was common, and since Lu Chixie followed him and even liked his post, not reciprocating might lead to unnecessary speculation. But he still felt awkward about it.
The doorbell rang again, and Yang Ming went to open the door. This time, it was Lu Chixie himself.
Ling Zhuo could only get up to greet him.
“Would you rather sit here hungry waiting than come to my place to eat first?” Lu Chixie asked straightforwardly.
Ling Zhuo explained awkwardly, “We’ve already ordered, and I didn’t want to waste…”
Lu Chixie interrupted, “They’ll deliver it later, we can eat together. What’s there to waste?”
Seeing Ling Zhuo’s hesitation, Lu Chixie suddenly leaned forward, getting close to him and asked, “Ling, what’s bothering you? Why so ungrateful?”
Feeling the unfamiliar closeness, Ling Zhuo instinctively stepped back.
Meeting Lu Chixie’s intense gaze, he changed his tone, “Well, thank you, Teacher Lu.”
A hint of a smile appeared in Lu Chixie’s eyes. “Let’s go then.”
Lu Chixie’s room was next door, with the same suite layout as Ling Zhuo’s. There were four dishes and a soup prepared by Lu Chixie on the table. Ling Zhuo’s order of three more dishes arrived shortly after they sat down.
Ling Zhuo didn’t eat quickly, chewing slowly and carefully. Lu Chixie casually picked at his food, paying attention to Ling Zhuo’s eating habits, with a smile on his lips.
After eating, Lu Chixie’s assistant tidied up a bit and left for his own room downstairs. Yang Ming went to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities for Ling Zhuo, leaving only Ling Zhuo and Lu Chixie in the room.
Ling Zhuo sat quietly for a moment, then got up to say goodbye. Lu Chixie walked him to the door.
Ling Zhuo opened the door, turned around, and thanked Lu Chixie, “Thank you for your hospitality tonight, I’ll head back now.”
Lu Chixie looked at him and suddenly reached out, grabbing his wrist, pushing the door back and pressing him against it.
Ling Zhuo was caught off guard, his face changing, “What are you doing?”
Lu Chixie didn’t do anything, just stepped forward a bit more, still holding Ling Zhuo’s wrist, not letting him move.
Feeling Ling Zhuo’s irritation in his eyes, Lu Chixie lowered his voice, “Ling, did you give me your personal WeChat?”
Ling Zhuo asked, “And if I did…”
Lu Chixie said, “I saw it. This afternoon, when we were reading the script, you switched to another account to message someone.”
Lu Chixie’s breath was too close, making Ling Zhuo very uncomfortable. He turned his head away, paused for two seconds, and said stiffly, “You’ve got the wrong person.”
Lu Chixie stared at him for a moment, then smiled again, “What do you think I’m trying to do?”
Ling Zhuo wasn’t new to this circle. Lu Chixie’s interest in him was too obvious for him not to understand. This person was probably unreserved, but Ling Zhuo wasn’t and didn’t want to be.
He didn’t answer, and after a few seconds of standoff, Lu Chixie let go of his hand, stepped back, and created some distance.
Ling Zhuo immediately turned around, opened the door, and quickly left.